Closure



June 8, 19,48. N. M. NEssET CLOSURE Filed Aug. 14, 1942 Patented June 8, 1948 CLOSURE Naurice M. Nesset, Glenview, Ill., assignor to Baxter Laboratories, Inc., Glenview, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application August 14, 1942, serial No. 454,819

1 claim. 1

This invention relates to a closure, and more particularly to a closure for containers for sterile liquids and the like which contains a diaphragm that is effectively self-sealing after being punctured by a needle.

An object of the invention is to provide in a resilient plug, a diaphragm for sealing a passage therein which is substantially completely selfsealing, so that a container which is closed with the plug will remain sealed under Vacuum for long periods of time, even after the diaphragm is punctured by a needle. Another object is to provide a closure plug which may be readily punctured with a thin needle and, after withdrawal of the needle, will be self-sealing and will remain so for substantial periods of time. A further object is to improve the self-sealing properties of a resilient diaphragm in a closure plug.

Another object of the invention is to provide a closure plug for an open neck container, the plug having at least a pair of passages therein sealed by diaphragms, and to lubricate at least one of the passages and to render the diaphragm in the other passage substantially completely self-sealing. Other features and advantages will appear from the following specification and drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the closure plug; Figure 2 is a bottom view of the plug; and Figure 3 is a sectional view of the plug in position in the neck of a container and showing a needle inserted within the plug.

The invention contemplates a resilient closure plug for the open neck of a container and the use of a film of a liquid of low vapor pressure on the upper surface of the closure plug so as to improve the self-sealing properties of an integral thick diaphragm in the plug. The invention further contemplates the use of the liquid of low vapor pressure to lubricate other passages in the plug when the closure plug is of this construction.

In the embodiment of the invention described herein, a container I is provided with an open neck II, the neck II being equipped with annular ribs I2, to which a closure clamp or member I3 may be secured. The container I8 may be of any suitable type or character, and is preferably of the conventional type used for intravenous solutions, blood plasma, or other liquids which are to be kept in sterile condition.

Within the open neck I I of the container I0 may be placed a resilient plug I4 of rubber or other suitable material. The plug I4 may be provided RII (Cl. 21S-47) 2 with an outwardly-extending annular member I5 which is received on the upper surface of the neck II of the container I0, while the body of the plug is received within the open neck of the container.

The resilient plug I4 may be equipped with a pair of passages I6 and I1 extending partially through the plug. Integral diaphragms I8 and I9 extend across the passages I6 and I1 respectively to seal the same. Preferably, the passage I6 is provided with a constriction 28 immediately below the diaphragm I8. Immediately below the constriction 28 is a shoulder 22 which is adapted to engage an enlarged head of a fitting which may be passed through the diaphragm I8. The walls 23 of the passage I1 below the diaphragm I9 may be substantially uniform in character to provide a passage of uniform cross-section area. The diaphragms I8 and I9 may be disposed slightly below the upper surface of the plug I4 so as to provide recesses 24 and 25 in the upper surface of the plug.

The plug may also be equipped with a passage 26 and a thick integral diaphragm 21 extending across passage 26 to seal the same. The thick integral diaphragm 21 is adapted to be punctured by a thin dispensing needle 28, which is of the size of the conventional hypodermic needle. The resilient diaphragm 21 is also sufficiently thick to be substantially self-sealing when the needle 28 is Withdrawn therefrom. Thus, the diaphragm 21 is of a thickness less than that of the plug I4, but is much thicker than the diaphragms I8 and I9.

A sealing member 29, which is preferably a thin resilient rubber disk of an area substantially the same as the upper surface of the plug, is adapted to be received on the upper surface of the plug, as shown in Fig. 3, and to extend across and cover the diaphragms I8, I9 and 21. The closure member or clamp I3 may be of any suitable construction, and preferably corresponds to the conventional closure members which are received on the projecting threads or ribs I2 on the outer surface of the neck of the container and may be tightened down upon the resilient sealing disk 26 to bring the same into tight engagement with the upper surface of the plug I4.

Upon the upper surface of the plug I4 is placed a thin film 3| of a liquid of low vaporpressure, such as glycerin. The lm of glycerin extends over and covers the upper surface 38 of the thick diaphragm 21. Preferably, the liquid also covers the upper surface of the diaphragms I8 and I9. The liquid may be any liquid of low vapor presof the container to seal the same under vacuum.

The upper surface of the plug is covered with a thin lm of glycerin or other liquid of low vapor pressure. The resilient sealing disk 29 is then placed in position on the upper surface of the plug and the closure clamp Il is used to'iix the disk in sealing relation with the surface of the plug.

When the container is to be used in connection with blood transfusions or as a storage container for blood plasma, the needle 28 is inserted through the resilient sealing disk 29 and diaphragm 21 in the plug I4 to the position shown in Fig. 3. The blood or blood plasma may then be passed through the needle 28 into the container I0. When the blood or blood plasma has been received within the container I9, the needle f 28 is Withdrawn from the plug Il and resilientv sealing disk 29. The diaphragm 21, after the needle 28 is withdrawn therefrom, closes the opening formed by the needle to become selfsealing. The presence of the thin film of liquid on the upper surface 30 of the diaphragm 21 greatly improves the self-sealing properties of the diaphragm. With this thin film of liquid on the surface of the diaphragm 21, it has been found that a, vacuum can be maintained in the con-f tainer over very long periods of time, even periods as long as several months. Without the use of the thin nlm of liquid of low vapor pressure, the diaphragm under ordinary conditions tends to be subject to leakage over periods of time and the I vacuum in the container may be substantially lost.

When the blood, blood plasma, or other liquid within the container is to be removed therefrom, the closure member I3 is removed from the neck of the container and the resilient sealing disk 29 is removed from the surface of the plug I4. The diaphragm I9 may then be punctured, and a needle or tube inserted to permit theV introduction of air into the container. The diaphragm I8 may then be punctured with a tting or dispensing equipment which will receive the liquid from the interior of the container. The presence of the thin film of liquid of low vapor pressure on the surface or the diaphragm I8 permits the fitting, which will normally be equipped with an enlarged head, to be introduced into the passage I8 and to engage the shoulder 22. The liquid on the surface of the plug and the surface of the diaphragm I8 acts as a lubricant to provide for easier passage oi.' the fitting.

The container and the closure plug described lin connection with the invention may, of course,

be used for many different purposes and in many The closure of the invention is particularly suited for use in connection with sterile liquids and solutions which are to be maintained under vacuum.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment. it will be readily understood that changes and modiilcations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

In a container for sterile liquids and the like provided with an open neck, a resilient plug equipped with at least'a pair of passages extending partially therethrough, an integral diaphragm extending across each of said passages and sealing the same, one of said diaphragms being of a sufhcient thickness to be substantially selfsealing after being punctured with a thin needle, and the other diaphragm being thinner and being readily punctured by a dispensing fitting, a thin film of lubricating liquid of low vapor pressure on the upper surface of said plug and covering the surface of each of the diaphragms, a resilient disk., adapted to be punctured by a thin needle. on the upper surface of the plug protecting the lm of liquid on the diaphragms, and closure means for securing said disk in sealing relation with the upper surface of said plug.

Y NAURICE M. NESSET.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are oi record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 35,933 Griswold July 22, 1862 40,742 Davison Dec. 1, 1863 921,130 Lockwood May 11, 1909 1,364,786 Neal Jan. 4, 1941 1,413,703 Biehn Apr. 25, 1922 2,085,392 Reichel 7---- June 29, 1937 2,115,035 Morgan Apr. 26, 1938 2,153,981 Heineman Apr. 1l, 1939 2,190,054 Cutter et al Feb. 13, 1940 2,202,163 Mulford et al May 28, 1940 2,231,418 Trotter Feb. 11, 1941 2,276,421 Ross Mar. 17, 1942 2,340,419 Nawoj et al Feb. 1, 1944 

